John Osborne's Look Back in Anger, directed by Sam Gold in an arresting physical production that conjures the squalor and straitened circumstances of a working class life, opens Feb. 2 at Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre. The revival of the famous drama that launched the British "angry young man" plays of the 1950s began Jan. 13.

Sarah Goldberg and Matthew Rhys
Photo by Joan Marcus

Look Back in Anger, according to Roundabout, "is often regarded as a pivotal theatrical work of the last century…a shocking and vibrant drama about four people struggling to live together and love each other in 1950s England."

The limited engagement plays to April 8 at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 W. 46th Street.

The design team for the lower middle-class kitchen-sink drama includes Andrew Lieberman (sets), David Zinn (costumes), Mark Barton (lights) and Bray Poor (sound).

Look Back in Anger premiered in 1956 at the Royal Court Theatre in London; critics soon identified it as part of "an angry young man" trend in British playwriting. In 1957, the play opened on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Roundabout's productions of Osborne's work include Look Back in Anger (1980), Inadmissible Evidence (1981) and The Entertainer (1982). Osborne died in 1994. Director Gold is a Roundabout Theatre Company associate artist and recently staged the acclaimed production of Tigers Be Still at Roundabout Underground. He directed Broadway's Seminar. He also staged Off-Broadway's We Live Here (MTC) and Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons), among other plays.

Look Back in Anger plays Tuesday through Saturday evening at 7:30 PM with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 PM.

For more information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Charlotte Parry, Sarah Goldberg and Matthew Rhys in Look Back in Anger.Photo by Joan Marcus